Addison's Disease in Cats: A Rare but Serious Hormonal Condition

In this guide

Addison's disease, known medically as hypoadrenocorticism, is genuinely rare in cats, with only a few dozen confirmed cases described in veterinary literature worldwide. It is worth knowing about precisely because it is so easy to miss, given how vague and shifting its symptoms can be.

What goes wrong

The adrenal glands, small structures sitting near the kidneys, produce hormones essential for regulating stress response, blood pressure, and the balance of sodium and potassium in the body. In Addison's disease, these glands stop producing enough of these hormones, usually because the body's own immune system has gradually destroyed the gland tissue. Less commonly, it can be triggered by a tumour, or by abruptly stopping long term steroid medication rather than tapering it off gradually.

Why it is so often missed

The symptoms of Addison's disease, lethargy, reduced appetite, occasional vomiting and gradual weight loss, are shared by dozens of far more common feline illnesses. To make diagnosis trickier still, these signs often wax and wane, with a cat seeming to improve on its own before symptoms return, which can lead owners and even vets to assume it is a passing stomach upset rather than something more serious.

The danger of an Addisonian crisis

If the condition goes unrecognised, a cat can suddenly deteriorate into what is called an Addisonian crisis, involving collapse, extreme weakness, a dangerously slow heart rate and shock. This is a genuine emergency requiring immediate veterinary treatment with intravenous fluids and hormone support.

Diagnosis and treatment

Routine blood work sometimes shows clues, such as an unusual electrolyte balance, but a definitive diagnosis requires a specific test called an ACTH stimulation test, which measures how the adrenal glands respond to a hormone that would normally stimulate them. This test and the medication used to treat the condition are not stocked by every general practice clinic in India, so your vet may need to order them in or refer you to a larger veterinary hospital, particularly in smaller towns. Once diagnosed, Addison's disease is treated with lifelong hormone replacement medication, and most cats do very well once stabilised, needing only regular monitoring and dose adjustments over time. If your cat has been on long term steroid medication for another condition, always follow your vet's tapering schedule exactly rather than stopping suddenly, since this is the one form of the disease that is genuinely preventable.

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